Tag: South Street Seaport

On Saturday night I went to the second annual Control Voltage Fair at the South Street Seaport in Manhattan. It was at last year’s event where I first got the modular bug. Since that show I learned all I could about the Eurorack modular format and have purchased 31 modules and 4 racks to hold them. The modular “scene” is small and everyone I’ve met online, at Control or at these events has been friendly, helpful and really into it. It was extremely hot and humid on Saturday evening and this year the booths and live shows were outdoors. After a quick walkthrough I first stopped at the Tiptop Audio booth to play with the Trigger Riot and see the new Mix Z prototype. The TR lives up to it’s name as within a 30 seconds you can have a mass of drums making noise. The Mix Z is a mixer with a bus on it’s backside so you don’t have to patch the audio in from Tiptop drum modules. I met Richard Devine at the Make Noise booth. We discussed how he soundproofed his new studio. We also talked about how it’s important for children to hear a lot of music as they develop and how his own kid may end up a little different because of the modular sounds she’s hearing vs Row Row Row Your Boat. Ben Casey from Bangbang was there. He’s the de-facto Elektron dealer in NYC. Musician Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe and Knas the maker of the Polygamist synth were seen hanging out. Before the actual performances startetd Jeremiah Johnson had a small crowd gather around him while he improvised on the massive Control setup. They had the new Mutable Instruments modules in their giant Goikes racks and Jeremiah was making good noise with them. I talked to him after his was done about European gigs. I enjoyed Keith Fullerton Whitman’s performance. Modular sounds good live and outdoors. I like my music more structured and evil but it had moments where I wondered how he was doing it. Richard Devine’s performance had a certain sound to it. Plucky, vactrolish and for most of it happily quite dark. Due to the Tequila icey drinks they were serving right outside the festival I tired out and missed Lori Napoleon. Be sure to see my entire set of photos on flickr: click here

“People walking by outside audibly confused by the noise pouring out on to the street from RichardDevine ‘s set.” – Anthony Saunders

I am happy to report that the Control Voltage Fair is returning on Saturday July 6, 3pm-12am. It will be held once again at the at the South Street Seaport in Manhattan. This is where I first really got into modular synths. Be sure to check out my post and photos from last year’s show: click here.

“Part exposition, part block party, Control Voltage is New York City’s annual fair dedicated to celebrating the modular synthesizer. Synth makers and distributors share their creations by day, inviting audiences to see, hear, touch, and talk about the modular synth. Musicians perform at night celebrating technology, invention, community, creativity. The fair will take place on July 6th, 2013 at Cannon’s Walk, and will feature the interactive fair followed by a concert. Kickoff and wrap-up concerts will take place on July 5th and July 8th. Workshops involving building voltage-controlled instruments will take place throughout the weekend. Participating Exhibitors include (tbc): 4ms, Casper Electronics, Control, Intellijel, Knas, Main Drag, Make Noise, Meme Antenna, Pittsburgh Modular, Skychord, Snazzy FX, Tip Top Audio, Toppobrillo.” – harvestworks.org